Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/612330
28 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 6, 2015 (December/January) About water use laws, Brando said, "What most countries have is legislation that may be tougher or less tough on the composition of waste water you can throw in the rivers." Sheridan noted that "… [Awareness] of existing public standards is deficient and enforcement uneven. There are few consistent positive incentives to adopt new technologies." Traditional cultural practice remains a barrier in many places as well. Referring to experience with the CAFE Livelihoods project, Sheridan reported, "During the first harvest after the processing centers were installed, only two were used to process any substantial portion of the coffee belonging to the cooperatives that operated them. … Over time, all 10 cooperatives adopted, but only gradually, and with a full subsidy for technology acquisition and technical support." Coffee mill advances over time The history of innovations in coffee processing stretches back to the time of the Industri- al Revolution. Two companies selling pulpers today are over 100 years old: multinational Marshall-Fowler Group (MFG), known for its tea and coffee equipment, got its start as Marshall, Sons & Co. in 1848; and Penagos Hermanos in Colombia was founded in 1892. Newer equipment makers like Pinhalense in Brazil and Vina Nha Trang in Vietnam established their reputations in the second half of the 20th century. The mechanical siphon, patented by Pinhalense, was one of many advances made in the late 1970s used widely in current systems. Mechanizing the removal of mucilage was another. As such changes were tried and introduced, consumers' coffee tastes also evolved. Today, mill operators may find themselves pulping for multiple markets and may even be asked to handle arabicas and robustas, fully washed and semi-washed in one facility. Pinhalense has improved upon its first generation components which were first available decades ago. Notably, in the 1980s, the company introduced unripe/green cherry separation equipment that enabled processers to pulp, i.e., to re move the skin from only ripe coffee cherries with the further choice of leaving all or some mucilage behind or removing it all. Once dried, those semi-washed or washed coffees are prized for their unique flavor characteristics. Originally developed for Brazil, green cherry separation and pulping systems were subsequently introduced around the world as the quality of selective picking decreased and partially ripe and unripe cherries started to be picked in larger quantities. Pinhalense's green separators discriminate between unripe, under-ripe, and ripe cherries and decide which ones to pulp to achieve the highest quality with an optimum cost-benefit. "Reduction of water consumption and contamination is a relatively new but very important concept," said Brando. "As its name indicates, washed coffee used to con- Pinhalense wet mills in India, left. Above, a mechanical siphon, green cherry separators, repass pulpers, and mucilage remover in El Salvador. Loading cherry into a FNC Ecomill 3000 Ecomills reduce wastewater up to 100% Photos courtesy Pinhalense